President Trump and congressional negotiators agreed Tuesday to narrow the outlines of the immigration deal they’re working on to four issues: protection of “Dreamers,” enhanced border security, limiting family-based chain migration and curtailing the visa lottery.
All sides said they made real progress after an extraordinary meeting at the White House, where nearly an hour of open negotiations were broadcast on television, giving Americans an unparalleled view into the decision-making process.
Under constant prodding from Mr. Trump, Democrats said they could accept some new enforcement, while Republicans agreed to forgo an even longer list of security upgrades and stricter enforcement they’d been asking for.
The fate of Dreamers and Mr. Trump’s push for a border wall gained urgency as they became entwined with a spending bill that must pass by Jan. 19 to stop a government shutdown.
The details remain to be worked out, and the two sides still don’t even agree on a deadline, nor on how the legislation would reach the House or Senate floor. But Mr. Trump promised the end result will be a “bill of love.”
“We have something in common. We’d like to see this get done,” Mr. Trump said.
He also said that he would sign whatever Congress sends him, saying he trusted the more than two dozen lawmakers he invited to the White House for the talks to come up with the right balance.
Mr. Trump did say he must have a new border wall in whatever emerges, saying he couldn’t imagine Democrats would object — particularly with new numbers from the Homeland Security Department showing illegal immigration across the southwest border rose again in December, and is now back to Obama-era levels.
The president is eyeing a wall that would stretch between 700 and 800 miles along the border, not the entire 2,000 miles, and would be more of a massive bollard-style fence than a solid concrete wall, said Sen. Jeff Flake.
“Frankly, I went in very skeptical that anything would be accomplished,” said Mr. Flake, an Arizona Republican who has been at odds with the president on a host of issues. “But the biggest part of the meeting [was when] the president actually did a little more explanation of what a wall means to him.”
Democrats have resisted any wall-building, and recoiled last week after the Homeland Security Department sent up a proposal that envisioned $18 billion in funding, spread out over most of the next decade, to build hundreds of miles of new fencing.
The president on Tuesday brushed aside his department’s own estimates, insisting the wall can be done much faster and cheaper.
In an unprecedented move, Mr. Trump allowed reporters to remain in the meeting for about 55 minutes and witness some of the back-and-forth between himself and lawmakers.
“It’s not common, but I thought it was a good idea,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican at the meeting. ” It was good for the White House and the staff to also see the gaps we need to bridge amongst the Republicans and Democrats.”
A smaller bipartisan group of lawmakers will meet again Wednesday to continue the negotiations.
The talks were spurred by Mr. Trump’s decision last year to cancel Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, the Obama-era deportation amnesty that’s protected up to 800,000 Dreamers from deportation. DACA will be phased out by March 5, creating a firm deadline for action.
But Democrats have said they wanted to see a solution well before that deadline, saying it will take time to get a program up and running. They’d initially set an end-of-December deadline, then let that pass.
Now they are insisting that the next government funding bill, due by Jan. 19, will have to include a “DACA fix.”
“We expect it to be in the bill,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer — though he wouldn’t say whether he’ll encourage a filibuster, inviting a partial government shutdown, if DACA isn’t included.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who controls the schedule, countered that he won’t combine immigration with the spending bill.
“Let me tell you again how it’s going to be handled in the Senate: separately from the spending negotiation,” the Kentucky Republican said.
During Tuesday’s meeting Mr. Trump appeared to toss a curveball into the negotiations, promoting a get-tough immigration bill by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican.
The bill not only would rein in chain migration and end the visa lottery but also would crack down on sanctuary cities, make it tougher to game the asylum system and allow for faster deportations of new illegal immigrants — a move that could cut down on the new surge in illegal immigrant children and families.
The Border Patrol nabbed 12,204 Unaccompanied Alien Children and family members last month, and nearly 6,000 more were detained by Customs and Border Protection officers running the ports of entry, according to data released Tuesday.
Mr. Goodlatte and the three chief co-sponsors, all of whom were included in the meeting, said the bill would be introduced this week.
Mr. Trump said that legislation would lead off the congressional action.
“It could be a good way of starting,” Mr. Trump said.
But that bill goes well beyond the four areas all sides said they had agreed to focus on, so it’s not clear how it will fit into ongoing negotiations.
Mr. Trump, while calling for a series of immigration changes, said his biggest focus is on the wall, curtailing family-based chain migration that allows migrants to sponsor relatives beyond the nuclear family, and nixing the visa lottery.
He pointed to recent terrorist attacks that involved migrants who entered the U.S. because of the visa lottery and chain migration.
But many Democrats object to any action other than approving legal status for Dreamers, saying the wall, chain migration and the rest can wait.
“There is a terrible misunderstanding about chain migration and the truth about the visa lottery,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who attending the meeting. “But the most difficult issue will be border security.”
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who for years has been at the forefront of Democrats’ fight for amnesty for illegal immigrants, said the chain migration and visa lottery issues were deal breakers.
“You have conceded to the xenophobic right wing,” said the Illinois Democrat.
⦁ David Sherfinski contributed to this report.
© Copyright (c) 2018 News World Communications, Inc.
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Did anyone see good old DemoRAT Diane Feinstein state during the above meeting, that she wants an amnesty bill for all DACA people and then she stated that the Congress can work on security later. Ronald Reagan revisited. I would not be surprised if the RINOS bow down to the DemoRATS and let DACA go through with very little border security. There are alot of Lindsey Traitor Grahams in the House and Senate! Trump better be ready and I hope he will stand firm!
Sounds like the Old DNC.. Give us what we want NOW, and maybe we look at compromising with you later.. TOTAL AND Utter trype..
Brilliant move as he rounded up Dems for a meeting, then dominated them to prove his leadership and mental capability on camera in the spirit of collegiate co-operation. The Dems all looked like media trapped deer in the headlights, and who knows how the fake news reporters with an agenda looked. I’m not so sure the DEAL MAKER will get anything worth giving away 800,000 future Democrat DACA votes. If he can get any sane working Democrats left in Washington to cross over and abandon Schumer and Pelosi (Who were purposely left absent) it might just be worth the effort. I still say ANYONE who entered the country illegally, even if allowed to stay for charity or mercy purposes should NEVER have a path to citizenship in their lifetime, nor be given the right or ability to NEGATE any LEGAL vote, like YOURS or MINE. Never enable or reward illegality or you will soon find yourself living in an unlawful land with NO legal protections for YOU, but plenty of protection for the lawbreakers.
IMO Nothing will be worth giving almost a million people, amnesty.. Even if we got EVERY desire in regards to ending chain migration, a wall, birth right citizenship AND the lottery visa debacle, i am not sure granting THAT many illegal invaders amnesty would be worth it..
Can you imagine…12,204 ILLEGALS JUST LAST MONTH ALONE…..were commiting suicide here for Christ sakes….What a bunch of BS…they are caving to these left wing donkeys AGAIN…shut the Government down, big deal, the place works better when they aren’t touching/ruining anything anway…what doesn’t Trump understand about NO ILLEGALS IN AND THROW THE ONES HERE OUT?…the people that voted for him don’t want any “negotiations” “giving in” or “compromise”…JUST DO WHAT THE HELL YOU SAID YOU WOULD DO…..PERIOD.
I agree completely. We voted for him because he said he would send them all back. We don’t want any DACA people here, we don’t want their extended family and entire village that they will bring in here. We want the wall. Democrats want to destroy the country and make the founding stock a minority and then run roughshod over them. Trump was the backlash against that and the anti immigration candidate and thats what the American people want. If he caves on DACA then he will not get re-elected, unless he gets every single thing under the sun that we want such as ending chain migration, the wall, e-verify, massive deportations, and end to immigration AND DACA people never become citizens and can never vote.
Here, here….could not have said it better….
And as i said last year, If trump DOES cave into the whiners and grants amnesty, i don’t CARE HOW GREAT he was otherwise, he’s totally lost my vote for re-election…
Trump is attempting to justify his reneging on his campaign promise … to deport the illegals, build the wall, end chain immigration and the VISA Lottery system… He is turning out to be no different than every other lying politician in recent history. Now the wall will only cover 700 or the 1200 miles… the desert and rough terrain are supposed to keep the other 500 miles secure… BS…. they are crossing there now. The costs are exaggerated and the estimated time to build the wall is way out of line… 1yr and 12 Billion should not only build the wall but finish all the auxiliary support buildings, electronic surveillance, and the access roads and facilities needed to maintain the wall, house the Border Patrol and provide detention centers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who controls the schedule, countered that he won’t combine immigration with the spending bill… in other words he will pass Amnesty and dump on funding the wall and passing all the other immigration issues.
I’m beginning to think the same as you…he is slowly turning into another complete *********** that says one thing and then does FA…..
[ BS…. they are crossing there now]
I’ve heard from some of my mil comrades who did go into border patrol after getting out, that its THOSE DESERT areas where a large chunk of illegals DO cross at.. Cause its EASIER TO DO SO and avoid BP..
Brilliant idea to show the American public logical government negotiations, and to show that Schumer and Pelosi do not bother to show up for work as required and should be fired for insubordination.
Pity we CAN’T fire them…
We can. It’s called ‘voting for someone else’. Time will tell whether people will finally wise up and do that though.
True we CAN vote for someone else. BUT often the choices we get of who to vote for are damn near the same.. A rino or a democrat..
President Trump said he would sign whatever bill came to him. That is hoping against hope that the Republicans will not bend over and give the Democrats a “clean DACA” bill which means they will give a pathway to citizenship from almost 1 million illegals and it will NOT be attached to funding for the wall, removing chain migration and the insane lottery (through which terrorists and the worst of the worst can come to the U.S.). All those things need to be on the same bill, if not it will be like Tip O’Neil promising to later reduce taxes after President Bush signed the biggest tax increase in history to that point, and Tip lied. Just like the Democrats are lying now. Give them what they want (DACA) and they will then never approve funding for the wall, eliminating chain migration & the lottery. It is taking a huge chance to do this any other way. A chance I don’t think President Trump will take. He does have a couple of good patriots from the House in his ear.
It is looking more and more that he is not willing to FIGHT the dems on this and is ‘one more go along to get along’ swamp dwelling pig.
Everyone needs to read Mike McCaul’s (with a couple others) letter explaining what we need to do on immigration and boarder security. From his pen to God’s ear to Trump’s pen. McCaul is the house chairman of homeland security.
Trump just lost my support… we did not vote for him to have him PROTECT ILLEGAL ALIENS or to compromise on the wall. We brought him to this dance and we expect him to dance with us and not the enemy… The way DACA was presented sounded like he would sign anything they sent him and that a separate bill for ending the Visa Lottery, Chain Migration and funding a PARTIAL wall, would follow… after he signed the DACA Amnesty into law. However, one can bet that the DACA Amnesty Bill will pass, but the other items being negotiated, in a separate bill, will be voted down… That is not negotiating, that is capitulation on every point the Democrats wanted. If Trump signs a DACA Amnesty bill he will never see my vote again.
Look at these videos. Study each one of the players around that table, then ask oneself…”Would I buy a car from any one of these bozos?” Of course not! Here’s the real answer….What is really underway is “The Collective.” The end result is like any other tin-horned, third world, dictatorship (Cuba comes to mind – right now, 1/10/2018 Cuban coffers are literally empty), if Putin and Xi Jingping don’t step up to the plate and ship boatloads of cash to Raul Castro, Cuban’s will have to take a cut in salary and living standards…from less than $3.00/day to $2.00. So, what is happening in these USA??? REDISTRIBUTION OF INCOME. See, Immigration Reform is Democratic National Committees insurance of increasing their voter base. Look at Black Americans Democratic Voter Base…poorer,less safer, really dilapidated housing, and worse nutritional habits (just like their Cuban cousins). Yes, Black American (Brazilian, Syrian) home ownership has increased (highest since 1960’s) but when a family is at 1% participation in America’s economy, going to 2% is really nothing. So, DACA and IMMIGRATION REFORM are merely another SWAMP trick pulled on We The American People by screaming…IT’S FOR THE CHILDREN. Want the truth?
Cont. DACA is a sham. These are ” visa overstays,”period, protected by NGO’s,organized to shuffle these “visa overstays” to key “distribution centers” around the USA – mostly in California, New York, Mass., N. Carolina, Alabama to name a few. Then NGO attorney’s get busy filing DACA forms, placing these “DREAMERS” on a path to citizenship. Folks, wake-up, Democratic Party is “rigging” 2018 elections and 2020’s, too. Pray. Amen. God Bless America and ALL Americans. Read A Bible. Psalm 128. Those, working for Immigration Courts see this daily scheduling of Lying DREAMERS with asylum petitions. Immigration Judges are complicit, too.
Give me the border wall, end chain migration and the lottery and DACA people who are either going to school or working and have no criminal record get citizenship.
IF THEY are here illegally, that is a crime! I don’t care if they have not broken any OTHER laws, NO DAMN amnesty period.
Exactly. We supposedly have to votes to ignore the dems, so why are we even discussing compromise? Only because so many of the republicans are really RINOs.
Proving my point from early last year.. IMO the only way this swamp will get cleansed is if an asteroid wipes DC out.
Trump has already shown, in one year, he is the greatest President since Ronald Reagan. The country needs him. He’s unorthodox in the way he does things, but I find it refreshing.
If he caves in and grants amnesty, he proves to ME is just as weak as Ronald was in caving into the liars in the DNC..
It is not “xenophobic or right wing” to desire much better border security and immigration controls. I’m sick of the radical left calling the “moderate center” names. The combined threats of Drug smuggling, terrorists migrating, and infiltrating and attempting to destroy the world’s best hope for mankind in our system of government is reason enough to end the threats of chain migration, Visa Lotteries, and unimpeeded refugee acceptance. Even humanitarian acceptance of those attempting to migrate has to have its limits. People who come here should truly want to assimilate and be willing to provide some value to overall society. Be of any religion or none if that is your desire, and your inaleinable right in this society, but but come here to be “American” and follow US Law, not Sharia or any other iteration.
The primary function of government since men banded together in tribes has been the “protection” of the governed or its citizens and their families and is what their primary function should be. All the rest is ancilliary. The US governments first duty is to it’s citizens and their families followed by “Legal residnts”. I get sick of academic, and political, or liberal idiots trying to avail illegal, undocumented aliens. or whatever you want to call them, “Constitutional Rights”. They have NONE, and desrve NONE unless or until their status changes, or they return and come back under the Laws we are all sworn to obey.
Its almost gotten to the point if an alien fleet showed up and said “we will kill every open border/amnesty loving person in the country unless your champion defeats us”, and I WAS THAT champion, i would willfully LOSE THE BLOODY challenge!
Sounds like a few people are ready to jump off a bridge. I didn’t like a lot of what I heard either but since then I’ve cooled down and listened again.
First, I think yesterday was all about optics and it was in response to the media narrative that Trump is crazy. He brought the media in for almost an hour to watch him conduct a meeting with both parties and have dialogue with all of them. That was not the performance of a crazy man and they all saw it.
Second, I think we saw the art of the deal in action. If we had 60 conservative Republicans in the Senate we might get everything we want. We don’t. We might have a dozen conservatives and 41 RINOs in our skinny little 51 majority due to voters who love their RINOs.
Third, I knew when I voted for him that Trump was not a conservative. I couldn’t vote for Hillary, so I voted for Trump figuring that if he did even one or two things I liked I’d be ahead. Well, he’s already done literally dozens of things I like and we are better off for it.
Fourth, I believe we will have to accept DACA, like it or not. But, I still believe that Trump will make the country more secure than it is now in exchange for DACA.
good points…hope your right
I agree strongly with everything you said. I feel the same way. Thanks for your comment.
[Fourth, I believe we will have to accept DACA, like it or not. But, I still believe that Trump will make the country more secure than it is now in exchange for DACA.]
I disagree. ACCEPTING daca is that road to hell, cause you just KNOW once the dems get that done, full amnesty is coming after..
I agree with you both. I hate the idea of rewarding a bunch of lawless thieves, for thieves is exactly what they are; BUT, I dread that the lawmakers are going to shove it down our throats anyway.
It is getting to the point, i would vote for VADER To come down and rule with an IRON Fist, over most of these cretins in congress..
Listen:I didn’t vote for you because you promised a big beautiful fence across some of the border.
I voted for you because you said ‘big beautiful WALL and deport the illegals.’ I could have gotten squish from any of the others.
Build a WALL across the ENTIRE passable border or resign now.
So, you think Mike Pence would be better at building the wall and deporting illegals?
No but pence might be better at keeping his bloody promise!
So what country do democrats work for? It is obviously not the United States of America.
The united one world government it seems..
For themselves, and it’s always been that way.
I predict the Democrats will welsh on the deal, as usual, and promise to shut down the gummint if any wall funding is included. The President should ask the American people to give him feedback, say over a two-week period, as to whether they prefer the GOP to throw out the filibuster option or to do the shutdown. Those remain the only two alternatives. The (defeated) Democrats must be disabused of the notion that they’re still running things.
Oh you can BET they will welch on any deal that includes a wall.. OR ANY OF trump’s stricter desires…
Face it, it appears we have been LIED to. The question is, not re-elect Trump to punish him or re-elect a liar to keep the Radical Left out ?
We’ve been here so many times before with the Republican party.
Is there no one we can trust ?
Build the damn wall, and make Mexico pay for it !
Deport them ALL !
No amnesty, no way !
I agree.. Its to the point, my dreams of a Death field along the entire border, is looking more and more like the ONLY way to stop this scourge of illegal invaders..
Here’s my proposal for a ‘DACA fix’; repeal it immediately, and NEVER bring it back. And by the way, what’s Jeff Flake doing in there? Isn’t he ‘retiring’ anyway? Who cares what that bloviating bag of bovine waste thinks anyway?
We saw this before in 1986. It turned into amnesty with NONE of the immigration enforcement and restriction laws ever being passed. Any immigration legislature that allows protection and amnesty without holding illegal immigrants to some form of timeline to file the paperwork, learn the language, etc…is a failure.
And imo that is exactly what the dems are wanting to do again.. GET EVERYTHING they demand, and give US nothing but hollow promises that they never get held to account for, when they break them!